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A family is seeking NHS support after care home costs hit nearly £4,000 a month in April. Mounish Patel, 59, from northwest London, said his family is now struggling to pay for his 102-year-old grandmother.
Chanchalben Patel, 102, who suffers from dementia, has lived in a care home in Hatch End for three years. The price has nearly doubled since she moved in, leaving the family under growing financial pressure and prompting them to seek NHS Continuing Healthcare support. Other families are also urged to check their eligibility for the scheme.
As a Gujarati-speaking Hindu who is a strict vegetarian, finding a care home that suited Ms Patel’s needs was hard enough. However, with the fees rising so dramatically in April, Mr Patel said the situation is becoming unsustainable. He told Express.co.uk: “It’s incredibly stressful trying to juggle everything – managing my own life, supporting my grandmother, and worrying about how to pay the fees.”
The financial burden is shared among other family members who live abroad, but currency conversion rates and the rising costs have made it even more difficult. Mr Patel said: “They told me a few days ago that they can’t afford to help anymore.”
With these pressures, Mr Patel has applied for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding, which can cover care costs completely for individuals with significant health needs. He said: “We started the process last year. Every day I’m worrying about what we’re going to do, where she’ll have to live, and whether we’ll be able to afford it.”
The impact would not just be financial. Mr Patel said: “Her current home is close by, and we visit her four times a week. If she had to move somewhere like Watford, half an hour away, it would be much harder to see her regularly.”
For families like the Patels, securing CHC funding could be life-changing, and others are being urged to check if they may be able to qualify for it too.
Lisa Morgan, a partner in the nursing care fee recovery team at Hugh James, said: “The rising care costs can place additional strain on individuals and families who are already managing extortionate care costs. Each year, these fees rise, often outpacing inflation, which forces many families to make a very difficult decision about the future of their loved ones’ care.
“Some are faced with the heartbreaking choice of moving a person in care to a more affordable home, despite the emotional and practical challenges this entails.”
However, she noted: “It’s important to understand the potential availability of NHS Continuing Healthcare when people have high-level complex care needs.
“It may provide a lifeline by helping to remove this financial burden and ensure individuals continue to receive the care they need without the constant worry of rising fees.”
Find out more about NHS Continuing Healthcare here.
